After the war, Harold became “a pillar” of the Ohio community of Fort Recovery, daughter, Margaret Knapke, said.

He taught math, was a school principal and coached sports.

Ruth was mostly a homemaker, whose kitchen was filled with the sweet aroma of pecan pie and other baked goods.

The neighbourhood children would flock to their home.

“She was the mom of the neighbourhood,” daughter Pat Simon told the Star from Russia, Ohio.

The Catholic church was a big part of their family.

In the last part of their life, their health deteriorated, and the family had to move them to a nursing home.

However, they were never too far apart. They shared a room since June, but their health got weaker.

She had broken both hips and suffered a rare infection that led to complications. Harold was frail and suffered from dementia.

But Harold battled to stay alive, even though it appeared he was not interested in life.

“It seemed that, even thought his health and strength were so very diminished, he couldn’t stop being her protector,” daughter Margaret said in her eulogy.

When he woke up each day, the first words out of his mouth were: “Where’s your mother?”

On Aug. 11, the family broke the news that Ruth was “not going to be coming out of this,” Margaret said.

“Her system is starting to shut down,” she told him. “We wanted to be sure he understood what was happening.”

He was a man of few words. The family tried to get him to talk about what he was thinking and feeling, but he closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep.

But as the night went, he stayed awake, and Margaret felt he was “processing something.”

Later, something shifted, and he started withdrawing.

At 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, surrounded by his family, Harold closed his eyes for the last time.

At 6:30 p.m. that evening, lying in a comatose state, Ruth took her last breath.

The family whispered to her that Harold had passed on earlier that day.

Margaret said that, although there was no outward sign she understood, she is convinced her mom knew subconsciously her husband was gone.

“We kept saying to her, ‘Mom… Dad’s holding the door for you,” Margaret said. “We would like to think that on some he was able to help her let go.”

Margaret believes her mom wanted to join the love of her life in heaven.

The family believes Harold hung on for months to stay with his wife in this life.

About four years ago, after Ruth had broken her hip and lay at home bed-ridden, Harold would bless her with holy water and give her a kiss before going to sleep.

“My siblings and I believed for about a year that he was only here because he didn’t want to leave mom,” Margaret said. “His body was ready to go for some time. He was willing himself to be with her.”

In the end, she said, the family was “grateful” that their parents were “aware of each other.”

“It’s a great consolation for us that they were able to go together,” Margaret said. “It’s a double loss, but it was better for them that way. Neither of them had to hang around and mourn the other one.”

Make no mistake, however, the youngest child, Pat Simon, said.

It was far from a perfect marriage, but their mom always said that “it takes work” to make a marriage work.